Author Topic: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?  (Read 5092 times)

Offline sjw

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New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« on: 14 September 2020, 18:02 »
That time has come to get new tyres. I currently have Pirelli P Zeros. I was all prepared to shell out for PS4Ss, until I realised that:

1) My wheels (19" Brescia) really need refurbing
2) The 18 inch PS4s are much cheaper per corner

So the way I see it I have a few options:

1) Refurb the DC wheels, and get PS4Ss. Trouble is, the diamond coat will likely just go again - I don't rate it at all.
2) Powder coat the DC wheels, and get PS4Ss. Problem - the wheels aren't then in their original finish - may hurt at trade-in. (Might not though, I'm unlikely to go VW again at this point)
3) Get new 18" wheels, and then fit them with PS4s. Issue here is that there is greater up-front cost, plus I will still have to get the Brescias refurbed at some point, and the PS4s aren't as good as the PS4Ss.

Also, maybe there's a better tyre to look at? I've heard that the PS4Ss are supposed to be a phenomenal tyre in terms of wet grip, and with my current P Zeros, I'm finding the tyres slip if I even look at the throttle in any weather (probably largely down to low tread when it comes to dry weather)

What would you guys do?

Offline Watts

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #1 on: 14 September 2020, 18:18 »
I'd get the Brescias refurbed and PS4S. I went from P-Zeros to PS4S and found them a big improvement. More comfortable, quieter (except for the concrete sections of the M25 where they had a bad drone) and the grip in all conditions was far superior. Much better rim protection too. From what you've said you'll be trading the car in at some point so chances are a refurb will be fine until then and you'll have the original wheels fitted, no-one will expect a car a few years old to have perfect wheels but will expect oem.
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Offline sjw

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #2 on: 14 September 2020, 18:25 »
I'd get the Brescias refurbed and PS4S. I went from P-Zeros to PS4S and found them a big improvement. More comfortable, quieter (except for the concrete sections of the M25 where they had a bad drone) and the grip in all conditions was far superior. Much better rim protection too. From what you've said you'll be trading the car in at some point so chances are a refurb will be fine until then and you'll have the original wheels fitted, no-one will expect a car a few years old to have perfect wheels but will expect oem.

The white worm is the big issue with diamond cut wheels, obviously. I have some where I've curbed the wheel (idiot), but some just randomly in the middle, a stone chip maybe. I just CBA with that happening again. I've heard the rim protection is much better though, so that will hopefully mitigate that.

Probably option 1 is the best, as I don't intend to keep the car forever. If I do keep it, maybe I'll get new wheels then, but perhaps a refurb is the way to go for now.

Would be interested to hear other opinions though

Offline SRGTD

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #3 on: 14 September 2020, 18:54 »
If you go with option 1, get the wheel refurb place you use to fit your new tyres. They’ll have lots of experience in fitting tyres to newly refurbished wheels, so shouldn’t damage your wheels in the process. If they did happen to damage them, then it’ll be down to them to rectify the damage.
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Offline My other womans a vw.

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #4 on: 14 September 2020, 19:04 »
My standard wheels (Parker) look great at the moment,but I know they won’t last.
When the inevitable happens,i’ll get them powder coated,probably anthracite or shadow chrome.
I also got a bargain set of Cadiz off an R with 600 miles on it (the owner didn’t like them) for my winter wheels,i’ll do the same with those.
Diamond cut wheels just don’t last long enough and is it right that you can only refurb them twice?-that’s no good,if you intend to keep your car for years.

Offline SRGTD

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #5 on: 14 September 2020, 19:12 »
Diamond cut wheels just don’t last long enough and is it right that you can only refurb them twice?-that’s no good,if you intend to keep your car for years.
Yes, usually they can’t be refurbished more than twice. It’s because the refurb process involves re-cutting the face of the wheel, which removes a layer of metal. More than two refurbs and there’s a chance the structural integrity of the wheel might be compromised as too much metal may have been removed.

That’s why it’s very important when buying used diamond cut alloys to check how many times they’ve been refurbished, so you know how many ‘lives’ they’ve got left.
2020 Polo GTI Plus; Pure White, DSG (because they all are)
Gone but not forgotten;
2016 Polo GTI; Blue Silk
2011 mk6 Golf GTD; Carbon Grey
2007 mk5 Golf GT (2.0 170bhp TDI version); Deep Black Pearl
2002  mk4 Golf GTI (the 150 bhp diesel version); Deep Black Pearl

Offline Watts

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #6 on: 14 September 2020, 19:22 »
Diamond cut wheels just don’t last long enough

I think local conditions make a big difference. My Santiagos were almost 5 years old on my last car and had no whiteworm at all.
2019 Oryx White 5dr TCR.

Was - 2015 Tornado Red 3dr GTI PP, manual, Santiagos, Audi short shifter.

Offline Guzzle

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #7 on: 14 September 2020, 19:29 »
In my experience diamond cut wheels are fine in the summer, it's the winter conditions that does them in. The wheels on my Octavia were flawless when i gave it back after 2.5 years. I did take them off though and run winters for 4 months of the year.

By contrast one of the wheels on my Golf has a scratch and a stone chip that happened over the past winter, as I didn't bother swapping them over for the first time in about 5 years.  :angry:
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Offline fredgroves

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #8 on: 14 September 2020, 20:37 »
You can't buy ps4s's in eighteen inch in the UK. You can only get ps4.

Hope that helps.
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Offline SRGTD

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Re: New tyre time - wheel refurb? What to go for?
« Reply #9 on: 14 September 2020, 20:53 »
In my experience diamond cut wheels are fine in the summer, it's the winter conditions that does them in. The wheels on my Octavia were flawless when i gave it back after 2.5 years. I did take them off though and run winters for 4 months of the year.

By contrast one of the wheels on my Golf has a scratch and a stone chip that happened over the past winter, as I didn't bother swapping them over for the first time in about 5 years.  :angry:

Some aftermarket alloy wheel websites specifically state either that diamond cut alloys are for summer use or they’re not recommended for winter use.

When I had diamond cut alloys on previous cars, I always used to check them over carefully each time I washed the car (every 10-14 days), and if there were any stone chips in the lacquer, I’d touch it in with clear lacquer to seal / protect against water getting under the lacquer where the stone chip had been. On my mk6 Golf GTD, in spite of doing this, and regularly sealing and waxing the wheels against the elements, two of the wheels still succumbed to white worm corrosion at around 2.5 years - around the centre caps. And I live in a part of the UK where winters are relatively mild compared to some other parts of the UK, so probably less corrosive salt and grit spread on the roads.

A polished / diamond cut surface doesn’t provide the best ‘key’ for the lacquer / clear coat to adhere to, so a high proportion of these wheels will probably suffer from white worm 2-3 years from new when water gets under the lacquer through a small area of damage like a stone chip. Given the choice, I’d never choose diamond cut alloys, because of the generally poor durability of the diamond cut, lacquered finish compared to a painted or powder coated finish.
2020 Polo GTI Plus; Pure White, DSG (because they all are)
Gone but not forgotten;
2016 Polo GTI; Blue Silk
2011 mk6 Golf GTD; Carbon Grey
2007 mk5 Golf GT (2.0 170bhp TDI version); Deep Black Pearl
2002  mk4 Golf GTI (the 150 bhp diesel version); Deep Black Pearl